Germany's Stefan Bradl earns pole position in MotoGP qualifying

A German rider who had never previously won a pole position was the fastest qualifier for Sunday's Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, edging rookie sensation Marc Marquez of Spain for the coveted spot on the starting grid.

Bradl turned in the fastest time in Saturday's qualifying — 1 minute, 21.176 seconds — on his final lap to wrest the pole position from the 20-year-old Marquez, who had been clocked in 1:21.193 on an earlier lap.

"It's a great feeling to win my first pole position in MotoGP," said Bradl, who held first place on his home track at the German Grand Prix for much of last week's race before settling for fourth place. "We've had a good performance all week, and today I managed to get a really good drive out of the last corner (of the final qualifying lap). I think it was one of my best laps ever. I expected to start in the front row, but to be in the pole position is even better."

Marquez was pushing hard toward the finish line going into Turn 6 of his final qualifying lap when he laid the bike down and slid into the dirt. He walked away from the wreck uninjured.

Marquez came to Monterey as the overall points leader on the MotoGP circuit, holding a razor-thin edge over two fellow Spaniards, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, both of whom are racing with broken collarbones from crashes at last week's German Grand Prix.

Another strong contender is Great Britain's Cal Crutchlow, who has finished on the podium four times in eight starts this year. He qualified fifth and will start as the middle rider in an all-Yamaha second row.

"Today was my worst qualifying spot of the year, and I'm not very happy about that," said Crutchlow, who crashed in practice session due to a problem with his front tire. "During qualifying we had a small problem with the bike, so I had to return to the pits twice. I tried my best today, but we ended up fifth, and I think (Sunday's) race will be about compromising in certain areas, then trying to be strong at the end of the race."

The only Americans in the field, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards, qualified 10th and 15th, respectively, in the 22-rider lineup.

The U.S. Grand Prix will be a grueling 32-lap test — an unusual challenge for the riders on one of the most-demanding race courses in the world.

"It is a long race — 32 laps — and if you lose your ability to concentrate at any point, you will crash," said Marquez, a podium finisher seven times in eight weeks, and a two-time winner on the 2013 MotoGP circuit.

"It will be very important to make a good start," said Bautista, who sees the U.S. Grand Prix as a good opportunity to improve upon his eight-place standing in the overall points race. "If you don't, you can lose a lot in the first lap of the race, and it can be difficult to make up for your mistakes on this race course."

Sunday's schedule at Mazda Raceway also includes the e-Roadracing World Cup (9 laps) at 9:40 a.m., the AMA GoPro Daytona SportBike (20 laps) at 11:15 a.m., and the AMA National Guard Superbike race (23 laps) at 3:45 p.m.

Complete results from Saturday's events at Mazda Raceway can be found online at www.motogp.com.